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By James Bickerton
News Reporter
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Herschel Walker has been accused of committing "election fraud" following reports he received a primary residence tax exemption for his home in Dallas, Texas, whilst running for the Senate in Georgia.
Walker faces Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock in a runoff election on December 6, after neither candidate won an absolute majority of the vote in the initial poll on November 8.
Analysis of tax records by CNN showed Walker got a homestead tax exemption for a property in Dallas this year, saving him around $1,500.
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Under Texan law the exemption is only valid on a person's "principal residence."
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This was claimed despite Walker registering to vote in Georgia in 2021, ahead of his Senate bid.
According to the 2020 Georgia code, residence of the state can be rescinded if an individual moves to another state "with the intention of making it such person's residence."
It adds: "If a person removes to another state with the intention of remaining there an indefinite time and making such state such person's place of residence, such person shall be considered to have lost such person's residence in this state."
Arguably by listing a property in Dallas as his "principal residence" Walker made the property his "place of residence" under Georgia state law.
Speaking to CNN a tax official from Tarrant County, where Walker's Dallas home is located, confirmed the former NFL running back claimed a principal residence tax exemption for the property in both 2021 and 2022.
Newsweek has approached Walker for comment regarding the allegations.
The revelation sparked fury on social media, with critics levelling claims of fraud against Walker.
In a message to his 304,000 Twitter followers Eric Garland, a political consultant, said: "Herschel Walker claimed on financial documents that he's a resident of Texas, not Georgia. So he's apparently committing tax fraud, election fraud - or maybe both."
Healy Baumgardner, a conservative operative who worked on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, tweeted: "Talk about election fraud Herschel Walker – wowzer."
Earlier this year Texas Representative Vicente González, a Democrat, pledged to pay back the money saved after it emerged he and his wife had claimed homestead exemptions on two separate properties over eight years.
In a statement sent to the Texas Tribune, González said: "It was a simple oversight that was voluntarily corrected as soon as she found out."
According to an AARP poll Warnock is currently leading Walker in the Georgia Senate runoff race, by 51 percent of the vote to 47 percent.
The survey, of 1,183 likely Georgia voters, was conducted between November 11 and 17.
On Wednesday a video of Walker mistakenly saying "this erection is about the people" on Fox News went viral, picking up more than five million views and attracting widespread ridicule.
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